How many folks out there, practice their katas "right and left"? I have done so on a limited basis, and plan to increase this. The fact that I find it foreign and akward to do many of the moves on the left side, seems to illustrate the need for this kind of practice.

Being a lefty I have played around with this a bit. The odd thing is that even though I am left-dominant, it feels more natural to do kata their standard right-dominant way because that has been the focus of my training all these years...it has become engrained in me. I have the same issue with left-handed scissors, desks, etc, with 40+ years of using right-handed equipment behind me I am too use to those and have never gotten use to left-handed equipment...if given the choice between left-handed and right-handed equipment I always choose the right-handed. So I tend to write left-handed and do everything else right-handed. One exception is throwing, I cannot throw worth a darn right-handed and have to do that left-handed.

On a related note, as a teen I did make a point of learning to shoot equally well with both hands. Ah the days before ear protection became common, now I have slight tinnitus in both ears, most likely from shooting rifles/shotguns left-handed and right-handed.

And when I took tennis lessons for a while as a kid I started switching the racket between my hands rather than using a backhand. I got pretty quick at switching the racquet and got pretty good at hitting equally well with both hands, but it drove my instructor crazy when I would do that.

My youngest son (Shane) is a lefty also, and I suspect he could relate very well to your feelings / perspective. Of course I think that also goes to show, that we've all become too comfortable with the right side dominated katas. We practice self defense, or "one-step" drills on both sides for balance, yet I seldom think of balance when doing kata or even kyu, or dan kumite.

On a side note, I once visited "that other dojo" in Lincoln and they practiced both sides. I didn't like it at the time, because it threw me off a bit. However, I think it was a good idea.

I agree that it is a good idea, if for no other reason than to break one out of his/her comfort zone. But the bottom line is that the better you are with more of your limbs the more options you have when you need them. Plus who knows, someone could end up in a survival situation with an injured dominant limb.

I picked up this practice 3 decades ago. For about 10 years I required my students to do kata "regular" and "mirror image." For one test you'd have to do Seichin "regular way" and Kanshu "mirror image." Next test you'd have to do Seisan "regular way" and Seichin "mirror image."

Recently I've changed the method to my madness. Along the lines of viewing Uechi kata as reference books and not story books... I now drill all the movements in the kata both ways. Before doing any kata I'll have two or three "sequences du jour" that I'll drill with the students. I'll tear the movements apart and practice the pieces, and then put them back together again in myriad ways. And as part of that drill process, I'll have students do those movements both "regular" and mirror image the way you would say do "hawk chases sparrow" in Seichin both ways. So yes... my students need to be able to do a Seisan jump from both sides. They need to be able to do a Uechi knee strike both ways. And yes... I train black belts to do the opening movement in Sanseiryu both ways - both simple and complex. Then I'll have them do the whole kata - just so they retain the material in "the reference book." On occasion I might make the students do the kata mirror image, but not so much any more. As long as they can do the sequences both ways, then the actual kata can stay as is and I don't have a problem with it.

My biggest issue is with the occasional dyslexic student. I had a female PhD polymer chemist from Dupont who was a student of mine for a few years - all the way to shodan. When I had her doing the kata both ways, she'd sometimes get lost in the middle of a form. When working with her I had to touch her left arm and say "left punch." That was just her brain wiring. It was amusing, as she was otherwise brilliant. (Some think Einstein was dyslexic.)

Mostly it's wise to do this to keep balance in the body. To do otherwise is to risk certain kinds of injuries or "back owies" that can come from repetitive uneven forces on the body. Good athletes learn to do techniques both ways. At age 40 I taught myself to be a switch hitter in the batting cage. It's fun... Keeps my body honest. And it also keeps the brain wired multiple ways to do the same thing, which can be very helpful for stroke recovery. Plus... you never know when you're going to face a southpaw. Having the reverse perspective can be handy.

I work very hard to train the body evenly in the weight room. Same principles apply.

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